I love the traditional Mexican restaurants. You know the ones with fresh homemade tortillas and tostada shells and hot non-greasy refried beans topped with fresh crumbled Mexican cheese. Those are the best!

So I was in the mood for some fresh Mexican food. But I also wanted a sope and I also wanted a taco. I haven’t made sopes in a while and I remembered those are the perfect combination of a tostada and a taco. And I thought the freshest way to make the sope is on top of a salad.

If you’ve never heard of a sope, it is a wonderful thick homemade tortilla cup that is fried to a crisp outside and a tender inside. It is traditionally served with refried beans and meat and/or queso fresco. And it’s delicious if you didn’t gather that!

And the best way to make these for dinner is quick and simple. If you ever have more time on your hands, it would be fun to make a family cooking night out of preparing the sopes yourselves with a bag of masa harina and some water. Delicious and so fun! But when you’re in a rush to get dinner on the table…

All you need is some premade sope shells, a can of pinto beans, some oil for frying and a pound of fajita meat along with some fresh ingredients and you’ll have a Carne Asada Sope Salad to enjoy in only 15 minutes!

Directions:
First preheat about 1 inch of canola oil in a skillet for the sopes. Preheat 4 Tb of canola oil in another skillet for the pinto beans. And preheat a third skillet with 2 Tb canola oil for the steak.

Once the oil is hot fry the sope shells batches at a time, flipping them over after they turn golden. This should take about 2 minutes per side, and 4 sopes per batch.

Add the un-drained can of pinto beans to the 4 Tb of oil and bring to a simmer. Once the beans are simmering smash them with a masher until they are the consistency you would like.

Brown the steak in the third saucepan with the 2 Tb canola oil and a bit of salt and pepper until it is cooked through.

It should brown well as the oil cooks off and into the beef.

Meanwhile, while the sope shells, pinto beans and steak are cooking, chop or shred the lettuce, dice your favorite fresh veggies such as tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, onions or cilantro, and set them aside. Crumble the queso fresco and set aside some cooked or pickled and drained nopales, if desired.

If you’ve never tried nopales, now is the time to do so. They are packed with vitamins and highly benefit the digestive system. I would pinpoint their flavor and texture to a cross between green beans and asparagus.

Remove the sopes to drain on a paper towel.

Spread a small amount of beans on each sope shell and place on a plate on top of a pile of lettuce.

Carne Asada Sope Salad

*Nutritional value may vary depending upon which ingredients are used.

*PointsPlus® calculated by Famished Fish and in no way endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc.

Ingredients

8 packaged sope shells

1 40 oz. can pinto beans, undrained

1 lb. beef fajita strips

1 head green leaf lettuce, shredded

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 cup diced nopales, cooked or pickled

8 oz. queso fresco, crumbled

8 oz. light sour cream

8 dashes hot sauce

salt and pepper

6 Tb canola oil, plus more for frying

Instructions

First preheat about 1 inch of canola oil in a skillet for the sopes. Preheat 4 Tb of canola oil in another skillet for the pinto beans. And preheat a third skillet with 2 Tb canola oil for the steak.

Once the oil is hot fry the sope shells batches at a time, flipping them over after they turn golden. This should take about 2 minutes per side, and 4 sopes per batch.

Add the un-drained can of pinto beans to the 4 Tb of oil and bring to a simmer. Once the beans are simmering smash them with a masher until they are the consistency you would like.

Brown the steak in the third saucepan with the 2 Tb canola oil and a bit of salt and pepper until it is cooked through. It should brown well as the oil cooks off and into the beef.

Meanwhile, while the sope shells, pinto beans and steak are cooking, chop or shred the lettuce, dice your favorite fresh veggies such as tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, onions or cilantro, and set them aside. Crumble the queso fresco and set aside some cooked or pickled and drained nopales, if desired.

Remove the browned sopes to drain on a paper towel.

Spread a small amount of beans on each sope shell and place on a plate on top of a pile of lettuce.

Top each sope with carne asada steak, queso fresco and desired fresh vegetables.

Dollop with sour cream and drizzle with hot sauce to dress the salad.

Notes

If you’ve never tried nopales, now is the time to do so. They are packed with vitamins and highly benefit the digestive system. I would pinpoint their flavor and texture to a cross between green beans and asparagus.

BLOGGERS: Would you like to join us at #15MinuteSuppers? We’d love to have you! Please check out the 15 Minute Suppers website or ask to join the Facebook group (for bloggers) to participate on Fridays…we’d love to have you join us.

About Famished Fish

Hi, I'm Saundra and this is my journey to creating delicious and appealing foods for my family-my famished fish and my finicky shark with autism. I am focused on healthy foods that deliver brain power full of vitamins and proteins. Not to mention delectable treats to entice the young and old alike. Follow me for mouth watering family and kid friendly meals and desserts.

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I'm a busy full time working mommy to 3 handsome boys and 1 beautiful baby girl, and wife to a loving husband, living a fulfilled life with food and fun. I am striving for a new healthier self and am working on keeping my family there too! Famished Fish, Finicky Shark is committed to fresh healthy foods and meals (some sinfully unhealthy too) for your family, with healthy fats and lots of love. Stay blogged on for nutritious and delectable recipes and ideas for both you AND your picky children! Read More…